GEORGIA, OH GEORGIA!

Peach State Once Again Upends American Politics in a Good Way

Unless you’re on Mars, you’ve heard the news by now: Fulton County (Georgia) District Attorney Fani Willis has persuaded a state grand jury to return a 41 count indictment against disgraced former President Trump and 18 of his co-conspirators in their drive to steal the 2020 election. Trump and his associates attempted to pressure officials to change the results, and when that failed, to manufacture fake electoral college documents to be foisted upon Vice President Mike Pence, he of “Hang Mike Pence” fame when he refused. The codefendants include Trump’s Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, and several of the lawyers who helped hatch the conspiracy which led to the violent insurrection of January 6, 2021. Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, Jeffrey Clark, John Eastman and Chesboro among other “legal eagles”are all looking at spending the rest of their lives in a Georgia penitentiary.

The charges against the twice-impeached, four times indicted defeated former President are:

Solicitation of violation of oath by public officer (2 counts)

Conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree (2 counts)

Conspiracy to commit false statements and writings (2 counts)

False statements and writings (1 count)

Violation of the Georgia RICO Act (1 count)

Conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer (1 count)

Conspiracy to commit filing false documents (1 count)

Filing false documents (1 count)

CLICK HERE TO READ THE INDICTMENT (Give yourself plenty of time!)

Fani Willis, elected District Attorney of Fulton county, GA, which includes Atlanta. (Photo courtesy NYT)

Why is this state court case more of a threat than the two federal cases?

The simple answer is that there’s no way out except an outright acquittal at trial.

Georgia has a RICO (Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization) statute similar to the federal law except it is broader, and while generally used against traditional organized crime syndicates, it applies equally to corrupt criminal political organizations. Over the past two years, Ms. Willis has brought 11 other RICO cases, so this is not out of the ordinary for a wide-reaching criminal conspiracy.

This being a conspiracy allegation, the statements of any of the members of the conspiracy, charged or uncharged, are admissible against all, and each party to the conspiracy is equally liable for any actions of the others done in furtherance of the conspiracy.

This means that every one of those lawyers and every one of the Georgia election officials who were charged for violating their oath of offices and joining the conspiracy, are liable for everything done by Trump, Giuliana and Meadows. Many of these defendants are simply pliable and gullible saps who had no idea they’d be looking at dying in prison because they listened to Donald Trump. They don’t have rich donors or working people deceived into sending money for their defense. They don’t have political machines to help them pay their bills while they are essentially unemployable or locked up, and there will be nothing waiting for them when they get out, if they ever do.

So don’t be shocked when you hear the sound familiar to all us old criminal lawyers: the rustling noises of codefendants flipping and turning and signing plea deals that keep them out of jail.

We are already going to hear testimony from Trump’s own officials, the few honorable ones, and the even fewer honorable lawyers on his team. We are going to hear from honest election workers who were threatened because they wouldn’t go along with the theft. And of course, we are going to hear that famous tape of Trump threatening Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger with prosecution or worse if he didn’t “find” almost 11,000 votes so Trump could steal Georgia.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger, who stood up to Trump’s criminality, survived a Trumpie primary challenge, was reelected, and is a star witness against the leader of the criminal conspiracy, our 45th President. (Photo courtesy of GA Sec. of State website.)

There’s no way out for Trump except a full acquittal

Trump and his ilk fear the Georgia case more than the federal cases, and there’s ample reason for their fears:

There’s far less opportunity for delay in the state court case.

The state case does not involve complex issues of national security or documents. It does not involve Presidential immunity, as there is none for crimes, nor is there any privilege which allows anyone, even lawyers, to avoid testifying about criminal activity by their clients. And even if some of them did not testify, because of the Fifth Amendment, prior statements , oral and written, can be admitted against Trump and anyone else.

There won’t be interim appeals on any issues of privilege or immunity, and the legal issues are clear and easy to decide. In this case, it does not matter whether or not Trump believed his own lies; believing one lost an election, even if they think it was wrongly decided, does not give a right to lie, cheat, and steal.

The issue of executive privilege and attorney client privilege are off the table now that a grand jury has determined the crime fraud exception applies to both. (As did the judge presiding over the grand jury.) Good luck trying to persuade an appeals court otherwise, and that will be argued while the convicted are sitting in the penitentiary.

That’s why Ms. Willis’ request for a trial right after the New Year is by no means farfetched. This is not a complex paper case like the documents case. There are no covert conspiracies as between Trump’s people and the January 6 insurrectionists; everything here was done out in the open and there are public records of most of what happened. Without complex issues or interim appeals to delay the trial, no reason why lawyers can’t be ready in six months. Most of the defense lawyers are quite familiar with the case and the evidence and there’s plenty of time for new lawyers to get up to speed.

He is likely to face the music on this case well ahead of the election

Fani Willis has proven herself to be a focused and nonpolitical prosecutor. She refused to take a back seat while Merrick Garland dithered about how how to proceed against a rogue and criminal former President. Instead, she investigated on her own, and long before Garland was inspired to appoint Jack Smith, DA Willis had compiled the evidence needed to charge and eventually convict Trump and his coconspirators. She’s made it very clear she’s not taking orders from the DOJ, and she will try this case when she wants it tried, and that appears to be around six months from now.

That really isn’t such an outrageous suggestion. While there are currently 19 defendants, rest assured that by the time we hear the pitter-patter of jury feet entering the courtroom, almost all will have been disposed of by plea bargaining. Some of them will wind up as witnesses against Trump and the others.

Get ready for the rolling over as everyone tries to save their own skin

My forty years experience as a criminal defense lawyer persuades me that among the 19 charged people, several are going to hire their own lawyers, not hacks controlled by MAGA, and they are going to cut very advantageous plea deals in exchange for agreeing to testify against the others and/or refraining form repeating the lies that got them in trouble in the first place. That makes for an easier, more manageable trial.

Ms. Jenna Ellis is a young lawyer with roots right here in Tampa. She is young enough to eventually recover from her sordid role in this national disgrace. (Think of how John Dean, John Erlichman, Michael Cohen have all rehabilitated themselves and regained careers after being part of Presidential criminal sprees.) She doesn’t have to lose her law license forever, go to jail for decades, be financially ruined, and face a long and bleak future as a disgraced ex-convict disbarred for what really is treason.

Or she could come clean, testify, get a relative slap on the wrist, help put some far more dangerous people away forever, and live out her days far better than those who go down with the ship.

If she gets herself a real criminal lawyer, you know what that lawyer is going to say to her, because you just read it!

I predict that at least one if not more of the big name defendants rolls over on Trump. Right now I’d put my money on Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows. They face the most time because they were up to their necks in everything, but they have the evidence and information most valuable to prosecutors. Rudy appears to be mentally ill and useless on the stand but I bet most of what he says if he’s trying to save his skin can be checked out and verified. Based on his age and mental condition, a non-jail sentence could be justified. It might be tougher for the much younger and much saner Meadows, who turned down plea opportunities and has a five years minimum facing him, but he could be a witness at trial and consider that he’s facing many decades in prison, eighteen months at a minimum security facility might sound awfully sweet right now.

One thing is certain-Trump is going down on this case

If you believe that Trump or anyone else charged has much chance of beating any of the charges, I strongly suggest you go back up to the top of this article and click on the indictment. If after reading it, you still have confidence in an acquittal, come see me about purchasing the Brooklyn Bridge.

Brad Raffensberger alone could convict Trump. This is a lifelong Republican, a conservative who has been by all accounts a fair and honorable Secretary of State, who voted for and supported all GOP candidates, including Trump. (At least he says he did, and I believe him but also believe he held his nose while doing so.)

Unlike the crooked political hacks who called him up and threatened him, Brad Raffensberger is a genuine conservative, a law abiding citizen, and a religious man who believes in doing what is right and following the law and most of all, honoring his oath of office and his obligations to ensure a free and fair election for the people of Georgia.

I know there are quite a few of my fellow criminal lawyers out there, and I bet every one of you agrees that in a case like this, there really isn’t a witness more deadly to the defendant and more valuable to the prosecution than a Brad Raffensberger.

Even if Trump got federal pardons, it does him no good in Georgia

I think we sort of understand Trump’s strategy in dealing with the fallout from his multi-jurisdictional crime spree. His hope is to delay his criminal cases, win the election in November of 2024, and then have the federal cases dismissed or pardon himself. (He isn’t too worried about the New York case involving a payoff to a porn star illegally disguised as a valid campaign legal expense, because a conviction is highly unlikely to result in jail time and it’s the least offensive aspect of his crime spree.)

Somehow, I don’t see as a strong campaign strategy an appeal to elect a person because it’s the only way they can stay out of prison. Trump never won the popular vote, was decisively beaten for reelection, cost his party both houses of Congress at different times, and it is generally considered that candidates who he helps nominate almost always lose.

Ask yourself how many people who voted for Joe Biden last time plan to switch and vote for Trump this time if they have the chance. Are there that many people who didn’t vote last time, but after seeing Trump’s behavior after losing, now want him back? We know for sure there are large numbers of people who voted for him last time and don’t want him back again. Even in the cult which took over the GOP, at least a third want someone other than Trump to run.

In other words, there really isn’t much of a path to victory, and without getting back into the Oval Office, those two federal cases, which could put him away for life, remain over his head.

Even if Trump were to somehow remove the threats of the two federal cases, that doesn’t help him at all in the Georgia case. Presidential pardons extend only to federal crimes. (There’s a whole separate issue as to whether a President can pardon themselves, which is why if he isn’t yet convicted, a reelected Trump would order his Attorney General to dismiss the cases.)

Trump can forget about any pardon in the Georgia case

Georgia law is not very forgiving of convicted felons. Receiving a pardon is more difficult there than in almost any other state or the federal pardon system. First, a pardon in Georgia cannot even be considered by a governor until the sentence has been fully satisfied and at least five years have passed since completion with total good behavior.

Even if the current governor, Brian Kemp, were able to help Trump, he would not. Governor Kemp, along with Secretary Raffensberger, refused to buckle under to the Big Lie, and he came under similar attack. Trump ran a former US Senator against Kemp in the GOP primary; Kemp demolished him and coasted to reelection. He has since voluntarily met with investigators and testified before a grand jury. I believe he will happily wave goodbye to Trump when he sees the Department of Corrections van take him off the state penitentiary.

Conceivably, if Trump were to serve his time and finish parole without incident, then go on to a five year stretch of decency, which I think is impossible, he could seek a pardon. It’s unclear what good it would do him assuming he’s still alive and has a governor willing to embarrass themselves.

Georgia is not Trump Country

If Trump is looking for a friendly jury pool, one that will ignore their oaths as jurors and acquit him despite the evidence, he is going to be sorely disappointed. Georgia went for Biden last time, and in three Senatorial elections held over two years, elected only Democratic Senators. (One is Jewish and the other is Black, hardly a sign that voters are Trumpies.) Kemp and Raffensberger won reelection despite the hatred of the Trumpies.

No wonder Trump keeps calling for a change of venue to West Virginia! But it ain’t happening! Trump’s fate rests in the hands of jurors in New York City, Washington DC and Atlanta, because that’s where he committed the crimes. If he wants a trial in West Virginia, he still has time to commit some crimes there.

Fulton County is the heart of Blue Georgia. No reason to believe those jurors will see things any differently than Governor Kemp, Secretary of State Raffensberger and the honorable election workers who were threatened.

If Trump goes to trial in Georgia, expect to hear the word “guilty” thirteen times

Trump and his team know this. they understand that even if he were to somehow win back the Oval Office, it doesn’t impact this case. If he is convicted and jailed, there is no Constitutional mechanism to spring him. He would be reduced to arguing that he is entitled to special jail privileges in order to carry out his Presidential duties. Somehow I don’t see Americans voting for that kind of government, and I don’t see courts going along with enabling an incarcerated President. There’d be no choice but to impeach and remove such a President.

His goose is cooked!

Donald Trump today, courtesy of Getty Images.

The cooked goose he’ll be in the very near future. Photo courtesy depositphotos.

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